The Life and Times of a Bear

Shmee is a very small bear. He is named after Squee's bear, and is a proud member of the Midnight Growlers. Today he will be eleven years old.

He and I have been on countless adventures, seen wonderful sights, and done horrible things.

I doubt there will ever be a bear like him. He has an affinity for safety pins and chains, and he loves to party. But he can be a serious bear, and like most bears, a great listener with a keen mind. He was one of my bestest friends.

For the better part of 8 years we terrorized suburbia until, as fate would have it, he forged out on his own. I haven't seen of heard from him since that year at Recompression, but I still think of him each day (and especially at Camp Awesome).

For such a small bear he could sure drink. Often I would find him passed out on the floor, or hanging upside-down to get re-drunk. He held his liquor though, not once did I find sawdust on the floor, but I would find him cuddled up to girls (he is a bear after all).
Of course he enjoyed Squee, but Jonny the Homicidal Maniac was his favorite.
He was almost as big of a geek as me, obviously he is the DM.
He has quite a few friends and associates, even some I don't even know.
And he's good with pets (most of the time).

In addition to other stuffed animals, going to parties introduced him to a great many humans. Many of these humans were put off by this little black bear, but a special few saw past the spikes and pins to the warm loving bear-soul within him.

And the occasional person tried to eat him....

Well, here's to you Shmee on your b-day, we miss you on the other side of the second o.

Forest Creatures

We believe that this lawn mower took its own life, for there was no grass anywhere near it. Spooky.

The Sith Collective went deep into the woods. Can you spot them?

It is hard to be evil and comfy, or maybe not....
Two very lonely mushroom trees....
...and a chair. Luckily, Puka subdued it for us.

*laughter...*

More Fire and Danger

I thought you might want to see more....


These were all from the first night of spinning.


Oddly, out of five fire spinners there were only staves. Long live the Sith!


More...? OK.


And for our encore.....


Tiki!

Thank you Rosa for taking these wonderful videos!

Fun, Dangerous and Artistic

Art by Christocat, remixed by Ricalope.

Rosa art!!

From a bunny, for a cat.

"Who 8 it?" by Samalander.

Pixies under a tree, by Rosa.

Rosa art vs Bunny.

Nicalope

Awesome art, by Rosa (don't follow Rosa).

Even Raver Bunny had a great time...

There is a place untouched by time. We call it "Camp Awesome." If you were wondering why it was so quiet this last week, here is your answer.

The Samalander's first light. Girls on fire are hot!

Robin, our generous host, also burned. The force is strong with this one...


And no Sith Collective would be complete without a burning cat!

You can find more Camp Awesome here.
Well, we are out of fuel now...

Sigils and Symbols

Well, our favorite convention is approaching, Gottacon! And of course this means a second wave of T-shirts...with a twist.

On the front will be the lovable logo you are all accustomed to.

On the back, well how about a contest? The plan is to make three sets of shirts: Transcendence, Descendence, and The Diablo Infection.

The rules are simple; make a logo for one (or any) of the categories, send it to me, and the winners get put on the back of the shirts.

Go to it!

From the Source

New Warrior Sources:

Master
To master all of the martial arts can take a lifetime (or more). There are those who devote their existence to such an endeavour and progress more swiftly than others. To those who witness them in combat veiw them as masters, but they know they are students still.
Start: 1 knowledge, +2 martial arts (off, def and pow), +d10 wounds.
Lvl Advancement: +1 martial arts (off, def and pow), +5 wounds.

Dominant
A dominant enjoys inflicting pain, some for a purpose and others just for fun.
Start: 2 weapon use, 1 knowledge, +d10 wounds, +2 damage (all).
Lvl Advancement: +2 damage (all), 1 weapon use, d10 wounds.

Warlock
A warlock fights with arcane abilities at the fore. The primary weapons of a warlock tend to be fire, telekinesis or just pure necromancy.
Start: 2 weapon use, +4 to all pool to hit, +d10 wounds.
Lvl Advancement: 1 weapon use, +2 to all pool to hit, +d10 wounds.

I haven't posted in a while, which means the posts are piling up. Watch this space...

The Warlock

I had an idea, warlocks.
A warlock is a warrior source.

Starting Level
+d10 wounds, 2 weapon use, +2 to all pool to hit.

Level Advancement
+d10 wounds, 1 weapon use, +1 to all pool to hit.

Essentially, this source would automatically increase the combat abilities of a mage or priest. The pool to hit modifier only applies when rolling a war, checks are unaffected.

Finding Darkness (5)

I began the next day by reinforcing the Rites of NekRa upon the zombie-mage in order to stop any decomposition. Then I got take a piss, I do my best thinking while voiding. I formulate plan 'd'. Plan 'd' consists of finding transport, getting to a Apothium (a church of sorts, devoted to NekRa) then try to get the guardian resurrected. I am hoping this will reverse the damage done by my associates.

Returning to where Tweek and Jack are (Drex is nowhere to be seen) we see Zee almost appear. I am not sure what is more annoying, those shifting townsfolk, or a half-there coyote girl. My jacket selects a couple of small sticks, bringing them into my hands. I begin flicking these twigs through her while the others greet her.

"Why I like you, I don't know." She says bad things, but I think she is just flirting. Too bad I'm out of her league.

"Cause I'm sexy." I reply, giving her a good look over and a wink.

"Sure, we'll go with that for now." She is shaking her head, but she means yes. "In the meantime, I need help with another task I am working on so I borrowed Drex. I will return him to you later."

"Oh, there's no need." I reply. Although in all truth, if was being attacked by some gribbly monster, I would want him around. That, and she was leaving us to walk into the City while they go off to do stuff. I just wanted to be a jerk.

"I can't keep him around, he's just as annoying as you are." Bitch. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you so you didn't have a spazz attack because the world is disappearing."

"Like we are going to get any warning anyway." I say.

"There is an abandoned restaurant down the way, you might be able to find some provisions there. But, I'm off." She fades to nothing.

We decide to go towards the restaurant, taking the zombie-mage with me. It takes a few hours to walk there, and I hate walking, so Wumpscut is playing the entire way. As we get there we can see that the radiation and weather have taken their toll upon the building. There are a few vehicles outside, all of them ruined, and even with our assorted abilities, none drivable. Tweek and Jack go to inspect the interior.

I stay outside and search around the area for raw materials. I find enough random bones to build a beast of burden. Once animated, this 'zombeast' stands upon four powerful legs and is entirely made of many smaller bones fused with the skills of necrology. It has no head, tail, or any other recognizable features, and stands three feet at the shoulders. Tweek, watching me with interest, offers to assist by using the Art (Quiddity-born powers). The zombeast increases three times its size.

While talking to Jack, we agree to a trade. I will allow him to scribe a Blessing upon his flesh, which is chameleon-like. In exchange, he will use his abilities upon the guardian's staff, he receives little info. The only thing important that that he found out it has a primal intelligence and is used to amplify energies.

Before attaching the zombeast to the truck with a length of chain, we began lifting the engine block out. As the zombie-mage, Tweek and Jack lifted, I attempted to pry with the staff. I apparently hurt the weapon's feelings, using it like a tool that way. A concussive wave of force hit us with enough strength to throw us into the surrounding vehicles. The engine block was shrapnel.

Tweek wanted to show me the loading dock. The doors had been sealed shut with heavy metal sheeting welded to the wall. He had made a opening in the metal, and although the sun was high in a cloudless sky, it was blacker than death metal in there. Only sonar could work inside, Jack had found out that inside was saturated with magic rendering phase-sight useless. I searched around the room counter-clockwise, finding desks and a single large bookcase. I get zombie-mage to haul the bookcase out, which seems to be filled with various lore. Thank NekRa.

Inside the large warehouse section, there is a smaller enclosure with no doors leading in. In my teens, I had been in a few pizza joints, and this was probably the backside of the walk-in freezer. Going around through the front of the restaurant, we find the freezer door in a pantry. As Jack hauls food outside, I realize I have no urge to eat any of it. Inside the freezer, the same blackness as inside the warehouse pools. Searching the warm freezer I find a cone, made from some kind of glass or metal, sprouting from the floor.

Unease fills me, my hair begins to rise and my jacket tenses.

Fools (4)

We celebrated our return to the Fifth with a round of shiftershots. We started to be more sociable after that. After a couple rounds only Drex and I were left awake so we took first watch. Zee approached us while the others snored. Boring of his company, I had begun looking over the designs upon the staff, they looked personalized. It would take a while for me to learn anything from them.

"Hey bitch," I greet her.

From where Drex is, "Whats up Zee?"

"How are you guys doing?"

"Not sure yet," answers Drex.

"You know we are not done right?" I am sure our expressions answered for us. But to show her she was wrong I pointed out the ex-mage standing near us. "So, its a zombie," she sneered.

"It used to be a mage, the one that showed up." It was possible, without the robes and fire she didn't notice. She wasn't there after all.

"That is a mage, it is not the one we are after. He is friggin deceiving, that's not him, so we're not finished. Actually, what ended up happening was that you killed the guardian of the gate."

"Why was he attacking us then?" I asked her.

"Because that is what he told you before, he was protecting the gate."

"So, we helped him," said Drex.

She looked at him, "yes and no. You ended up getting the power from the gate, all of you."

"So," I said, "step one accomplished."

"If we took the power from the gate," began Drex, "then we stopped him, right?"

"If all the gates are destroyed, the realm will still be destroyed. Which is bad. We need to find the next gate in the sequence, and find a way to get there."

"Then we need a vortex, like they had," I pointed at the two sleeping bodies, "maybe we should find out where they went. I think that is the first place I am going to check out, once I pick up my bike."

After she left I began to think. A drunken fog is good for thinking I find, with some accompanying DJ Tech playing. I need to get to a temple, they call NekRa "the Unkind" in the west, strange but fitting I find. Moreover, I must get this cadaver to the temple, they might be able to undo what this mage made us do.

It just came to me, I don't remember when I last ate.

Gate One (3)

It seems I was drunk. Apparently the forest is the gate, I missed that part at some point. This means we are where we are supposed to be so we can meet this mage. Neither Zee (or anyone else) has decided to give us a name, but we all seem to be looking for him. Drex, the trigger-happy felyne, wants to kill him and I am pretty sure Zee does too. My arguments in favor of keeping his knowledge fall upon their deaf ears. Tweek, on the other hand, can see some of my purpose. Jack, I am not sure about him yet.

We all do agree, that stopping him from destroying this realm would be our primary goal. I learn that this place is tied to Quiddity through some magic called dreamscape, and that Jack is a blessedm'n. He is from the dream-sea and most likely the best key I have to learning the secrets of that plane. The knowledge the mage has is still my priority, but it seems NekRa has furnished me with more keys to learning.

Zee apparently has a way to bring the mage to this gate, and we are to stop him from destroying it. She fades away around the same time we stop paying attention to her, "I suggest you get ready" she says.

"For?" I ask.
"He's coming."

"You dirty girl, we'll talk about that later...." I respond while queuing the "combat" playlist on my media player. My coat tenses.
A large humanoid appears near us. He appears human, but stands at my height. In his hands is an ornate staff that bleeds power as he readies it. He is clad in blue robes, under his hood he appears quite young and angry. Guns fly into the hands of those around me, plan 'b' then . "If you think you are going to get away with anything you have another thing coming," he says as wings sprout from his back. Rising into the air, he points his staff towards the ground and and begins to concentrate.

I dodge into the cover of the forest, Jack follows me. Drex is already shooting, and missing, to my right. Tweek begins climbing the wagon, the silver-haired human has still neglected to draw his weapon. The cascading force of the fire that springs from the ground lifts Tweek and Drex into the air, singed.

Jack, using a form of power I have never seen, puts up a barrier of energy to protect himself. Drex climbs the closest tree near the mage, and attempts to jump at him and starts falling through the branches. Tweek is shooting, his rounds slicing through the blue satin sleeve, but they fail to disarm him. I try to speak to him, reaching out with my mind, but he chooses to ignore me. I can wait, although my claws itch.

The mage turns to the falling felyne and belts him with his staff in the back of his head. He lands on the ground with a thump. Jack begins turning his power against the flying mage to no noticeable effect. As soon as the cat hit the ground bullets were streaming into the sky from his guns. Hit, the mage fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Drex immediately runs over to the body, his hands pass through it.

I am next to arrive at the body, the words of NekRa's Blessing already forming on my lips. To strike down a man of knowledge, without any attempt of negotiation at the least, is a sin to my order. Here is a man who is reaching beyond his capacity, endeavoring to become greater than the gods intended. With the power he must wield inside his mind, would it not be possible to find a way to reach those goals through other means? Would he achieve more, and destroy less, if he had a novice to facilitate him? These idiots simply gunned him down.

He awoke. His eyes, like cascades of granite, locked onto mine. I saw ages in those eyes. "May NekRa guide your ambitions" was all I was able to say. The rest of them looked at me incredulously as the mage swiftly stood, and batted Drex into the trees. Tweek launched himself into a grapple, attempting to hold his arms. I move in from the side, wrenching the staff from his one-handed grip, then rolling out.

The mage becomes surrounded by a fiery supernova attempting to blast everyone from him. Most of us get down and are clear of the blast, except me. I fly into the forest, hit a tree, and black out for a minute. As I wake, Jack dives in with an implanted blade that is sheathed in his wrist. The mage falls a second time, shit. Plan 'c'. Someone called out, "Tzak, he's dead again!"

Down again, I go back to the corpse, it is dead this time. I collect my thoughts for a moment, keeping a grip on the stolen staff, before beginning the Rite of NekRa. After speaking several lines of words that hurt the ear to listen to, he rises. His is face glossed over, completely void of all expression or life. I take his robe. "Don't kill it!!"

The world around us begins to fade, although the rest of them become more 'real'. Jack has been looking at me.

"Wait a minute, your a necromancer and a healer? That must be awful handy."

"The servants of NekRa are very...diverse." I reply. The surrounds are becoming nothingness, then I realize something, the booze. I run back to the wagon with the risen mage, getting it to carry the massive bottle, then return to the rest of them. By this time we find ourselves on the shore, somewhere else.

Allies (2)

I was finishing a shiftershot after my rest and studies when the air around be began to shift wildly. The wind began to thrash at the trees and I could almost hear yelling upon it. The hair across my body began to stand on end from a static charge building in the air. Above me the sky began to tear itself apart violently, energy cascading from the vortex. I tried to get out of the way while still watching the portal, staggering slightly from the shot. War Pigs is playing at top volume through my headphones. As a body drops from it I swear instinctively.

It looks like a regular human male, but with some fashion sense, dressed in a bomber jacket and a bitchin Led Zeppelin shirt. He looks bruised, that will happen when you fall out of the sky, but relatively alright so I help him up. He tells me his name is Tweek...so far so good, considering the situation.

"Where the hell have I ended up?" asks Tweek, looking around suspiciously.

"Not sure myself. I'm going to call this place....ummm....nah, I don't have a name." I was still a little drunk it seemed.

"Fair enough. Well I was in some place called...Earth."

"And let me guess, you fell asleep, woke up..."

He shakes his head, "nah, nothing like that this time, but a couple of jobs have happened that way. Nah man, there was some room. There were a bunch of machines, buttons and knobs. Next thing I know the wall is sucking me in through some hole..."

"Want a drink?" He agrees and I pour him a shiftershot. He downs it pretty well, and earns a bit more respect. "You here for a reason?"

"I was looking for some guy, some mage-y guy..."

"I kind of was too..."

"It was pretty vague."

"Yeah." We talk some more about our goals, it seems he is also looking for some others, possibly those two who bugged off yesterday. He seems pretty unsure of what to do once he finds them. As we talk I think of the possibilities of keeping this guy around, he is pretty friggin rockstar. As we digress into talking about the difference between rock and metal, he hears something, it seems to be Drex, he apparently has bodies falling on him.

Images creep into my vision as I bicker with Zee, who apparently is near. The wagon seems to be engulfed in a ghostly fire, I move close and notice that it gives off no heat. Taking the lead of the lizard-beast, I lead the wagon away. This leaves an image of a burning wagon behind. "See that?" I call to Tweek.

"Yup."

"So its not the drink then." Then Zee and Drex appear, ghostly like the burning wagon, along with a crumpled lump that could only be a body. "Holy crap, what the hell did you do to him? Get out of the way." I yell at Drex and attempt to shove him aside, but my hands go right through him. I giggle to myself as I wave my hands through his face, then go to the lump of bleeding purple flesh. Looking at him, I would not say he was a human, and therefore interesting. I look him over, noting the intricate sigils written into his skin, and begin invoking NekRa's blessing upon him. The wounds begin to close and he awakes, which is a clear sign that the mage-god has intended our meeting.

The creature's name is Jack and Drex seems to have an issue with him thinking that it is a mutant. From my observations, he is not mutated, but some kind of half-breed. The matter is settled with yelling and threats. There are demands of what purpose each one has, names and name-calling. Eventually the frig-heads settle without blood being spilled.

A Webbed Update

The nWo website is currently under construction. This will feature all things nWo; pictures, blog rolls, q&a and comment forum, and (of course) the most up to date rules for the nWo system. The rules published on the site will be taken from the zero terminus project, almost as fast as they are printed.

Yes, the project known as "zero terminus" is still under way, and is a complete re-write of the current World of Damnation book. This does not mean that the rules are changing and you have to go get a d8, the rules are getting clearer and more concise. The first 'chapter', the Book of Laws, is being finalized and proofread, with a couple of tweaks here and there. The main difference you might notice is the division of knowledges and subtle change in MS, just to start you salivating....

I must smash more keys now...until next we meet,
Ricalope, SL-0.

Jack's Blog

Every once in a while there pops up some fiction regarding nWo. With SL Tayo's new campaign beginning, Rise of the Nightmare God, Nato has begun the story of Jack. Please visit and read the awesomeness that resides here.

The First Step

They all bugged off while I slept, good thing I brought my headphones. The tree-shade is welcome after wandering about the desert but I only plan on resting here a short time. Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself, we should be properly introduced first. My name is Tzak.

My full name and title is Nau Tzaxgrath, of the Zrathi Tribe (for the unenlightened, "Nau" means Initiate of the Church of NekRa). I am just over seven feet tall and have short jet-black fur, as do all my tribe. My eyes are green, like our master's necrofire. I am an Annubii, an African cousin to the western Wolf-si, but unlike many of my kin I was born into the City. I am twenty-four years old, and for twenty-four years the City of Cairo has hated me.

There was an accident, a deep scarring of my psyche, it took place in one second. I had been dating one of the few of my kind in the city, and we had fallen asleep under the stars. To imagine that we traveled for the entire day to get outside the City's shield, I digress. While we sleep I was shown a sea and tread upon an island. In that dream I was finally whole as well as shown the strange and fantastic. I was told by a dream-stranger that this was Quiddity, then I awoke. I awoke to the sounds of panic and twisting metal, that is all I choose to remember. I was bound to my learning for the last two years, unable to seek solace. You can not imagine how optimistic I became when I achieved my title and was allowed to search for my own knowledge of Quiddity.

My Mentor had listened to my request and gave me a name. It is the name of a sorceror who knows of this dream-place, and to whom I must petition for this knowledge. This lead me to a different City, Victoria, and it felt much the same. It took me nearly an hour to find a suitable bike to 'borrow' so I could follow the only lead I had. This got me to a obtuse hotel, who knew of my inquiry, but was of no real help. There is where I met the cat. i would not call myself a racist, but felynes and I don't just get along very well under normal circumstance.

It turns out his name is Drex, like many cats he is quite high on himself and more than likely has a contract with one of the corporations. Judging by his trench coat, a metallic garment which seems to move like my own oid, he could easily fill in the blank in my credit. The only reason I spoke to him at all was because of his eavesdropping. It seems he is searching for this sorceror as well, so bollocks to it my better judgment, we could look for him together.

It also turns out that he likes to drink, so we spent our first evening together doing so in the bar across the street from the hotel. We must have looked the part, a felyne operative and annubii punk drinking and arguing into the early morning. I can tell you, the clerk in the lobby wasn't happy.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

I think that was when things got a little fragged, the two of us woke up in a field near a creek. There was no hangover from the night before, so I was good to go, Drex on the other hand went to the creek to leak. He returned with a female, one of the feral kin, coyote line, and not that bad looking. I introduced myself, Drex asked a bunch of questions. From the 'interrogation' I learned that she was the one who brought us here, wherever here was she wouldn't say, but it had to do with the same sorceror I was looking for.

Zee, which is what I will keep calling her because her name is too bloody long, had some more information about her quarry. But, as a true female, she had to test us first. Drex had some difficulties destroying one of the three targets with his arsenal of corporate weaponry. I on the other hand smashed all three with my claws. We were informed that the sorceror was attempting to locate each of the "God Gates" of this realm to destroy them and their respective guardians. This, she told us, would give him godlike power but would also destroy this realm.

I thought it was an ambitious endeavor, and therefore noble and worthy. Zee shot me a death-look when I voiced this. I quickly agreed that destroying an entire realm is a jerk thing to do and offered to help look for this guy with her. That seemed to calm her down.

We traveled along a road (which wasn't there when I woke up, never mind) to a really crappy little town. This town was so crappy it didn't have indoor plumbing let alone cell service. As we approached, the whole town came out to meet us. In a town of inbreds the oldest one is usually the most stable, and that rule held true here as well. As we were convincing him to tell us something that would help, I noticed fully why this place seemed wrong, everything was in shift.

It was an odd sensation in the wild, but imagine talking to someone who keeps changing their face, height, weight, and proportions. It was like vertigo. As soon as we got directions from the elder (who kept no books I noticed) to the closest God Gate, we went drinking. My stomach felt like it was on a roller-coaster crossed with a ocean liner from concentrating on talking to these people, but their drink was the answer. It was sweet, like honey wished it was, and it burned like thermite. One shot got you fragged, after sixteen I could barely make it up the stairs to my room. I am dimly aware of rocking out on some acoustic mandolin pretty hard sometime that night. In the morning I bought a bottle, and a wagon.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

That brings us to now, sitting in the shade, sipping shifter-shots and listening to my headphones. I have a good collection of pre-war metal acquired during my teens, Ozzy is playing, so I think I will wear my Black Sabbath shirt today. Since I might be close to the God Gate, and the sorceror, I made sure all of my pupteeth are entwined into my lobes properly, and my bomber jacket as clean as possible. I don't want to look like a scrub when I meet this guy.

In the back of my mind I wonder about my 'companions', since they wish to stop who might become my teacher. I am soul bound to protect knowledge and the Eye of NekRa is always watching his servants.

tWo, concept 2

This is a start...call it a skeleton if you will.
Ricalope, TL.

Toon World Order!!

Yes, you read that right, toons!! Here's the idea, nWo is having a child; tWo. tWo is simplified, straight-forward, and unbelievably silly. tWo will be fully compatable with standard nWo (if any SL is crazy enough to allow such sillyness) and uses the same basic rules. tWo has PUPPIES!!

(Art courtesy Duckey Cheepley)

During an episode of tWo, each player plays a Toon, that Toon has a race (or two) and a type. So you can have a rabbit genius, or a zorg-pilot-mouse, or even a ninja-cat-bus, it is really up to you. Everybody gets these stats; Str, Dex, App, Per, Luck and Smrt. The ones you reconize are the same, Luck determines how well a Toon uses his toon-pool, and Smrt is how smrt it is. Simple right? Except for the lack of Stm...

Expect lots of SPLATs and POWs, Toons don't get to soak damage. Which is good, considering that the point of each episode is to either die awesomely or cause such fun. At the beginning of each episode everything is back to normal...sort of.

Your thoughts?
Ricalope, Toon Lord.

Descendence (Blog 7)

Ronia had set up a bonfire in the town's square as the gypsies entered Jonas. The troupe set up their stage in the center of the marketplace and begins their performance. With rapt amazement the crowd grows around them, almost the entire town applauded the troupe as they finished. When it is over, the crowd dissipates slowly as if waking. Dex is approached by Eziekiel, the dragon is only told the the town "needs water from the mill" before slipping back into the crowd. Dex informs Ronia and Bron, and after the troupe has left, go below the mill. The vast resivour tanks are all empty, flushed when Descendence first came to Jonas.

They go to the liberary at the keep to research what appears to be a curse the gypsies layed upon the townspeople to draw dark fae daemons. Further research informs them that the halfling preists were purifying water below the mill, the kind which would rid the town of the curse. Taking Karyssa with tham, they return to the mill. Karyssa works a Purification upon the intake pipes to the containers. Unknowingly, the dark fae taints her working causing a sublty different effect. The worked water is given to the Myotis forces first, then the rest of Jonas during morning mass held before true night.

Taul joins them as they search for Darakoth, with the comming night there are still thoughts of him returning. They approach the alcove where his avatar should be, but the alcove is not there. They attempt to break their way through the working with weapons, magic and fae but it is worked by an adept and holds. In the surrounding chamber, small shodow creatures watch the group and their efforts. Bron and Karyssa use their powers in search of Dakaroth, finding him close, and Karyssa is knocked unconcious in retaliation with dark fae.

Ronia and Bron turn a few of the dark creatures into smoke with single hits. Bron's senses locate Dakaroth as the creatures and he wants his avatar. As some of the creatures draw them apart, the majority of them gather below the aclove, then they mass and surge through the Bron-made hole into Dakaroth's Wyrm. Some are destroyed by Bron's Sunstone and Ronia's flaming sword.

FAQ: Divination

I was once asked:

Divination:

Add the DoS of the [applicable sage lore] check to the next check or war made by the caster. This spell requires a physical component (or medium).

I have some questions:

1> Is it possible to "chain" divinations, such that the DoS of a successful divination check is added to a divination check on a subsequent turn, etc., until some great gob of bonus is either expended on some other task, or, more likely, tragically wasted when the diviner rolls the inevitable critical failure (DOOOOHH!!!)?

2> Does divination require the expenditure of at least one mana?

3> The description of divination for Aeromancy omits the requirement for the physical component. Is this an oversight, or do Air Elementalists not require them?

Answers:

1> No and yes. Making a scry check with divination will give you a modifier to the next check or war, so if the next check was another divination you would add the previous modifier (to make a bigger modifier). Multiple divinations from multiple casters are cumulative.

2> Divination is a "use of power", therefore pool must be expended.

3> Correct, Air elementalists do not need a medium, (as they read the air, water elementalists use water).

Hope that helps!

Ricalope, SL.

More (Part One): Things to Know

"The more you know..."

After digging around I noticed there are some things you victims do not have easy access to, such as the scribblings in my book. Giving you gremlins access to these things is part of what the blog is for. So, without further ranting, More Part One: Things to Know.

Knowledges:

Leadership (Chr)
-This knowledge may be used to give orders and effect morale.

Scribe (Man) Sage Lore
-The victim may store a spell in the form of words or runes for an indefinite amount of time. The DoS of the spell is rolled (either a to hit total or check) as well as a scribe check. The created "scroll" may hold an amount of spell DoS equal to the scribe DoS (all excess is lost). The pool is spent at the time of creation and the "scroll" may be used by anyone. [SL's note: Your entries in your equipment for such a scroll would read something like; Scroll: Fireball, DoS 20+5*, Burns.]

Weapon Uses:

Block
-This is the skill of deflecting, absorbing and minimizing damage. Add to all soaking rolls, except MS.

Haste
-The victim's reflexes are honed, allowing them to gain a head start on their opponents. Add the haste modifier to all initiative rolls. In the case of a tie, the victim with the highest Dex wins.

Shield
-The victim can learn to use a shield better for both blocking and parries. When using a shield, add the modifier to soak. A victim receives a free parry (which does not take up an action) with the shield for every five points in this weapon use.

Other Powers:

Baneshield (Undead Dominion or Soulthief)
-Cost: 4
-The victim accumulates a shield from the essence of their fallen foes. This shield is used the same as a regular shield and will take up one hand while being used. The baneshield recieves 1 point of Stm and 5 wounds each time the victim inflicts Final Death. The baneshield also regenerates one wound each hour out of combat.

Enjoy!
Ricalope, SL.

Scene Lord's Advice of the Day: Guerrilla War

Guerrilla War might be a better knowledge than you thought it was. This knowledge is one of those few who can apply to other skills, here is how.

The basics: Guerrilla War is the knowledge of finding battlefield positions that provide better cover and firing positions. It can be used in any type of environment without penalty. During combat, a victim may make two actions per turn (usually one check and one war), often the Guerrilla War check will be the most important.

Using your DoS: The degree of success (DoS) of a Guerrilla War check gives a value for how well the victim uses cover to their advantage. Once a position has been taken up the DoS may be applied to other checks and wars. The DoS may be applied to a single roll, after which it is "used up" and may not be used until after the next Guerrilla War check.

Stealth: The victim may use their position to hide, apply the DoS to their next Stealth check. This would apply to planning a route which provides cover as well as finding sniping positions.

Sniper and Marksmanship: Once a good firing position has been found it can be very difficult to avoid any fire originating from a hidden point. If the victim wishes, they may add the Guerrilla War DoS to their next to hit roll, providing it is at range. Once the first shot has been fired the position has been given away and a new check must be made.

Soaking: A good position can be the best defense against incoming fire. Against the first ranged attack (by a weapon or magic) the victim may add their Guerrilla War DoS to soak the damage.

Sharing Your DoS: Any of the above uses can be applied to multiple victims. This represents the victim sharing their knowledge and leading their group. Simply make a Guerrilla War check, then divide the DoS by how many victims will be benefiting from the skill (round down to a minimum of one). The other victims may use the bonus modifier any legal way they see fit (even if it differs from how the other victims use theirs).

I hope that helps, happy sniping!
Ricalope, SL.

Scene Lord's Advice of the Day: Totals

Hey out there, thought I would like to pass on some modifiers to your next game.

Lets look at something that will help make game go faster and more seamlessly, knowing your victim's totals. What I am talking about are the to hit, dodge and soak totals primarily as they often get altered each turn. Scrap paper! If you write down all your base totals on a spare sheet, and keep track of temporary modifiers there, life might get easier. As a SL, I often do this for the various adversaries I toss at you, this way I can keep track of multiple spells and creatures/people. The various things I find to be important to note during combat are:

Weapons to hit
Weapon damage
Pool to hit
Soak damage
Magical Stamina (MS)

Some victims find that they use knowledges like stealth, guerrilla war and the like, if so add those to this list. I hope that helps out your next round of combat.

Ricalope, SL.

Shirts and Staples

The victim shirts have been realized, and are spreading like a nice mold. They are all black, with the logo in white on the front. 16 t-shirts (with the infamous "victim" on the back), 6 named long-sleeves and my Scene Lord hoodie came in the other day, they are going fast.

I just finished stapling 50 books for the give-away at GottaCon and there are a few more to go.

For either of these wonderful things to become yours, feel free to message me, or drop by at GottaCon.

Ricalope, SL.

Descendence (Blog 6)

Bron had passed out near town square the previous night, after spending time with Tek Phlaeg. He had offered the dwarf a drink while fixing Bron's avatar, then there were songs, more drinks, and finally waking up in a crypt. He was awakened by Nau Fien, who was apparently keeping Bron safe, and asked to take the necromancer to Tal Onas.

The Night's Wrath arrived at Tal Onas while Bron was on his way there with Fien. They all attend Lord Faul's debriefing. Each of the mercenaries' contracts with the Emperor are agreed upon. The proposal to renovate the zeppilin to include an avatar chamber is proposed to Tek Phoeboes, who takes it to Lord Faul. It is agreed upon, but the work to be done will ground the vessel for the duration. Descendence squadron will have to rely only upon the captured cutters for support.

Ronia, Bron and Jauques go into the woods to hunt large game. Upon encountering one of the keepers of the wood, a raccoon, they abandon the hunt by morning.

The next evening Lord Faul orders Descendence squadron to the Glimmerhold, a dwarven forge-city on the other side of Hove. Their mission is to bring the dwarven hold under the trade alliance Myotis offers and punish them if they refuse. Given the lack of zeppelin, it will be a long journey through hostile territory.

Anui Ronia plans a route first to Jonas, the last friendly outpost before crossing the plains of Hove. As they arrive they notice a forest clustered against the wall of the city that had not been there before. It an impossibility since they had been gone from the town for a week. As they approach they change their approach angle, and the forest follows them, staying between them and the town. Descendence simply flies over it.

As they fly towards the keep they notice despoilers and Myotis guards posted as normal, other than the wood, nothing seems wrong. They approach the keep's doors and are denied entrance by the orders of Aniu Gweneth. Karyssa go to speak with Tek Phlaeg, he tells her of the town's Aniu being seduced by a dark fae adept named Darakoth, and the forest is his doing. The dwarf believes that he will use the coming "true night" (when both visible moons are dark) to harvest the inhabitants of the town.

In order to contact anyone with enough rank to over rule Gweneth, the mercenaries breach the topmost tower of the keep while the despoilers seize the scrying stone kept within. They contact Lord Faul who instructs them to destroy Darakoth's "heart", which he keeps protected within the forest. Through the fae, Darakoth Knows their actions and prepares the denizens of the wood. They plan thier assault for noon.

Ronia and Karyssa go to speak with Gweneth's second in command. He agrees to arrest his Aniu and strip her of rank personally, in return he will become the new Aniu. They proceede towards the keep, Karyssa entering through the forge intent on sabotaging the adept's avatar. When she arrives in the barracks, she finds the avatar protected with workings. Knowing that an adept's skills are greater than those she currently posses, she works a Deflection to block the small Unlock working that would be required to release the avatar. Ronia breaks the Closing worked upon the keep's door with her avatar's cursed claymore and proceedes to the audience chamber where Qweneth is waiting in her avatar. Aniu Ronia declares her arrest, leaving her second in cammand to strip her of rank.

As the rest of Descendence squadron proceeds into the wood, a force rips a path past them towards the center. They can feel it's presence, and with no better option, follow it's path cautiously. Before long, the creature reveals itself by eviscerating two despoilers. It stands taller than the avatars, its body a combination of daemonflesh, machine workings and armor plates fused together with the darkness of the wood. It grabs an avatar, throwing it against another despoiler with enough force to break it's cockpit. Bron charges into melee combat while Jauques unloads his four magelocks into the beast. Bron's fists repeadedly scar the daemon's hide as holes appear on its shoulders and neck. The remaining despoilers do what they can against it, adding more wounds. With a laugh like grinding granite, the daemon heals itself with the darkness around it, the avatars retreat above the forest.

Ronia and Karyssa meet them above the trees. Taul, Julian and a dragon named Dex, are sent to find the "heart" while the rest of them assault the creature below. In order to decrease it's power, the forest canopy is to be destroyed to let as much light in as possible. The squadron sets to work, burning and hacking the trees, forcing a clearing where the arcodaemon attacked. As they engage it again, Karyssa sets to the task of finding survivors who can be repaired. The arcodaemon reels as Bron, Ronia and Jauques press thier attack. The squardon survivors continue to hack at the forest, increasing the amount of killing light.

The Aniu carves a massive burning wound into the shoulder of the arcodaemon, Jauques rends it wider with curses of Vet-Aunn. Into the gaping whole, Bron teleports himself and back, leaving a single stone. The stone is made from condensed solar fae, the opposite to dark fae. The arcodaemon becomes a pillar of burning skin and metal for an instant.

Julian uses his divination to find the "heart", a stone mortuary containing four female corpses. The corpses are subsequently destroyed along with the stone structure. Nothing is found below it. Karysa does a knowing upon the fresh ruins and learns some disturbing news. The forest is a ruse put there by Darakoth to give him time to escape if he is found. Destroying the "heart", (the bodies of his previous wives,) will destroy the forest, but he still lives. The forest did provide him with large amounts of power, and they have weakened him.

Returning to the keep, the new Aniu Jabber greets them. Darakoth had left as the assault upon the forest took place, as they had guessed. The mercenary Dex is asked about the powers he used in the wood, Karyssa identifies them as the type they need to activate the avatar chambers. She teaches him about it, enough to activate the one within the keep. As a pracaution, they plan to stay in Jonas until the dawn after true night, just to be sure.

Gottacon 2010

I love conventions! And here comes Gottacon!

I was asked by a friend if the Rabbit Hole could help with a local convention, providing terrain and tournement tables. I gladly agreed! This will be a three day event, with gaming open for all three days (yes, round the clock gaming!) The Rabbit Hole will be represented by the Odin Primary terrain, Craftworld Apsaraph, Sam's Slaanesh army, and the Scream Walkers (for the tournament) and possibly nWo books for grabs. If you are in the area, I highly recommend attending this weekend of dice rolling and mayhem!

During one of the evenings I am thinking of setting up a giant Planetstrike game...any takers?

Cheers,
Ricalope, SL.

Transcendence (Blog 5)

Upon awakening, Celyne seduces Devo again, feeding her lusthunger. Karyn agrees with Valis to lead them to the city of Sylba, which is centred on their target nexus point. Karyn answers their questions the best she can, it seems the Cyionics use a nexus generator to power the better part of the city and have named this point the Sylba Nexus. Karyn knows very little of other dominions, but attempts to give them useful information about the nexus.

Further along the tunnel-road they begin to see more pyramid clusters as they close in on the city. At this point Karyn informs them of two directions they may take. The first will take them along a direct course into the heart of the city. The second will take them past two temples, and is a longer route. They decide on the second route, as the two temples are in their interest, one of knowledge and the other draconic.

The first temple is devoted to a god named Sirus, a god of knowledge. As they enter, they are approached by a priest bearing a symbol of the Order upon one of his rings, who then leads them to a study room to talk. After they each activate their Eyes of Closing, he answers Celyne's questions about the order upon Dahl. Upon this planet the Order works in secret, the priest gives them addresses of arms dealers and safehouses they operate as well as the authorization codes to an aircraft to take them back to Dahl Prime. During their conversation Dyscathi's name is spoken, this has a profound effect upon the priest, who then exits immediately to "prepare". Questioning him as he leaves, the party learns scraps of information; Dyscathi's name in ancient Dahl texts, his connection to the spread of elves across the realms, Mi being the "Father". With some urgency, they leave the temple.

Further on, they approach an ancient temple carved from the rock itself. What they thought at first to be statues, reveal themselves as dragons, as they bar the great entrance way. Celyne and Valis are not permitted entry, but they are curious about Devo's claim that he is a dragon. They question, taunt, and insult the elven-looking sorcerer and eventually allow him access. Inside, Devo proceeds towards the altar dominating the mass hall. Almost immediately he is bombarded by fireballs of pure darkness. The darkness rips at his mind, as something inside of him pushes him forward.

As he crawls to the base of the altar a voice demands of him, "what is your name?" The first two times he answers his name hesitantly, and is told he is wrong and thrown into the stone walls. The third time he does not answer, and is thrown into the wall. The fourth time he stammers something, unintelligible. The draconic entity lifts Devo so he is facing a bowl of water, "look" he demands. Inside the water, Devo's bloodied face looks back at himself, while the ripples show him the face of a dragon. The water becomes darker, flickering between the two faces, blurring them together. The darkness surrounds his vision, and encompasses his utterly.

Devo's unconcious form slides out of the temple, Celyne, checking that he is ok, finds two minds within Devo. He arises, utter confusion in his thoughts. They continue to Sylba, taking refuge in one of the few boarding houses on the edge of town. As they approach, Valis' netscape form is hugged by Craxxx. It seems that his body is in the same stasis chamber as Valis' and that he had to "sneak" into the netscape in order to hide, it seems the Cyonics are not to friendly to pixies. With the party whole again, and Karyn gone, they rest.

Descendence (Blog 5)

Upon the Night's Wrath, Taul and Jauchec are given temporary command of the two captured battle cutters while the squadron prepares for inspection. Once the garrison force is assembled, Descendence drops from the zeppelin. The Rights of Command are transferred from Anui Ronia to Anui Gweneth, Gweneth is also given the sceptre of Jonas by the keep's head servant making her the official ruler of the city.

Anui Ronia declares a tournament, each squadron selects it's champions. Descendence is represented by Lilith, Beretolt, Thorig, Taul and finally Ronia. Descendence wins the aerial competition, due to the tireless efforts of Beretolt, their champion.

During this, Jauchec goes to the Bounty Hunter's guild to collect his bounty (for returning the idol). His paymaster suggests he depart with the Night's Wrath, he agrees.

After the tournament, Ronia goes to the Dragon's Scale to have a couple of free drinks, she encounters both Eziekiel and John Johnson inside. The Anui questions the halfling about his absence from the keep. Eziekiel answers for him, he had signed Ronia's name to authenticate his release, which does not sit well with Ronia. With suspicion in mind, she seeks solace at the chapel in the Night's Wrath, Jauchec joins her.

Karyssa makes one last visit to Jonas' forge before departure, and speaks with Tek Phleag, the dwarven mechanic for the garrison force. They talk of the avatar chamber, Karyssa agreeing to send transcripts of the books she is taking with her. Within this chamber, Phleag presents her with a golden token emblazoned with the Technocracy's seal. He explains to her that once she has acquired three of such tokens she can petition to join the sub-cult at any of the Great Forges. With thanks, she leaves for the zeppelin.

They encounter three Wyrm avatars, which are piloted by the necromancers of Myotis. As they approach, one of them reveals himself as Lord Faul. Ronia gives him a quick appraisal of the attack. Faul is pleased, except for the loss of Nau Fien. Upon his leave, he informs them he will be retuning to Tol Onas in three days.

Along the Night's Wrath's journey they come across a wildfire on the edge of the Living Wood, the avatars deploy to assist. Upon the ground they find the tree-ents attempting to contain the blaze. Koom approaches them, pointing out the Hovian bodies, full of mourning and anger. With the blaze contained, they continue to the fortress of Tol Onas.

Transcendence (Blog 4)

Celyne decided to go down the same hole that swallowed Devo. She connects with him as he is re-aquainting himself with Cypress' bracers by shooting the walls (which have little effect).in the small room he was deposited into. The two of them travel from one chamber to another, until they get to the room Valis should have been in, he is not found. Inside the chamber, the walls are made from some kind of metal, with a bluish luminescence emitting from the ceiling. There are no signs of life, and no signs of habitation.

Valis becomes conscious, the walls, ceiling and floor of the large room he is in seem to be made of solid blue light. He sends a text message to Devo, and sees it race off as a burst of energy through the walls. Having been in a Dreamscape before, he guesses that this is somewhat the same, and is not far off. He exerts his will upon the floor below him, transforming it into a map of the structure. A pyramid shape, made of light, surrounds him. With more concentration he locates Devo and Celyne, but not his own body. A presence comes into the room with him, a synthetic being, who introduces herself as Karyn. She explains little of the nature of Netscape, and that since his friends have no connection to the network (as Valis does), they will need his help. She is confused by him, finding it strange that he is still partly organic,and promises to meet with him later.

Valis' net-presence finds his companions who are making their way to the central chamber. Through a psychic connection, the three of them are able to converse without problems. The rest of the way is easier, with Valis opening the doors with thought, and they encounter no one until they reach the central chamber. Awaiting them are three individuals, two of them (including Karyn) in Netscape. They question them, asking about their reason for being upon this planet. Seemingly, their answers are correct and the they are taken to a meeting chamber.

They are call themselves Cyonics, a race of simulants living below Dahl Prime, with he majority of their population existing within the Netscape. They confiscate the party's IDs, informing them of the recording devices installed in each of them, pledging to return them when they have been made inert. After the IDs have been taken, the Cyonics inform them of the Dahl's history of enslavement. It seems that they use their knowledge of the Nexus Points to contact, invite, then enslave entire populations. The Cyonics learn of the party's mission to test these same Nexus Points and agree to take them to the nearest one. They travel out of the pyramid structure, into the underground caverns of the Cyonics. Since they are on the outskirts of their city, there are large tunnels connecting the outlining structures. Selecting one of the larger tunnels, they journey toward the city with Karyn as their guide.

Along their route they are attacked by entities that exist both in realspace as well as Netscape. These daemonic creatures launch a number of strikes meant to test the prowess of the party, than attack with force. All the tech-daemons die as the party tears into them. Although victorious, they are tired (and still drained from Devo's previous recuperation botch), so they take rest in a shrine to a mechanical god.

Descendence (Blog 4)

Jauchec had gone back to his guild and hired the tracker he knew of and took him to the ruins of House Alaroth. The tracker then lead him into Jonas' underground tunnel networks. During their walk through the tunnels, Ezikiel introduces himself, and releases some of his knowledge of the family they seek. Ezekiel believes that the family hides within the keep. Jauchec continues to cast his stones through out the journey.

The Aniu, both Descendence' as well as the newly arrived garrison despoilers, meet at the North Gate and discuss a time for an inspection. The parade will be set hours before the Night's Wrath departs. Ronia then makes her final preparations for the captive nobility, sanding invites to the officers and Karyssa. During the pre-dinner festivities, a halfling merchant named John Johnson Glimmer identifies two Alaroths at the dinner in exchange for release. Ronia agrees to consider release once she is sure he speaks the truth.

Just before the main course, Jauchec and Ezekiel (smelling like the sewers) join them. During the meal, the two Alaroths are confirmed, they are siblings, the elder brother easily persuaded by gold, but the sister loud and opinionated. John all the while is pushing for his release, or at least into the courtyard, in quite the curious way, until the ceiling begins to cave in.

Two Hovian avatar detatchments force a wedge to the keep, the Lord of Light assaulting the dining hall directly and at speed. Half of the dinner guests are wounded or dead upon the first strike. Jauchec guns an avatar down, providing cover for the others to run, while grabbing the Alaroth girl. Bron shimmers to his avatar as Ronia, the other Alaroth in tow, and Karyssa run to their machines. The Lord of Light becomes engaged with Bron, his rock-drill fists destroying the golden engravings of his armor with every hit.

Ronia is followed by a Hovian to the keeps forge, Ronia manages to activate her machine before it arrives. The enemy machine rakes the forge with cannon fire before launching itself against Ronia. As the two cockpits slam into each other, the Hove pilot pulls a pistol and fires at Ronia, missing. Ronia impales him on her claymore.

In the courtyard, the combined garrison squadron and Descendence surround the Hovians, driving them back. Bron begins gaining an upper hand on the Lord of Light, who begins to pull back. The attackers activate arm-mounted tower shields and begin to form a circular phalanx. Once the sphere of shields is complete, a mass teleportation spell displaces them in a flash of light.

Ronia checks her prisoner, to find him dead, a gunshot wound to the head. The Alaroth girl, Elaine, is unharmed and angry. Although angered by her, they concede to the Emperor Myotis' request, and give her the idol.

Descendence (Blog 3)

As Ronia returns to the keep, she encounters Taul, her second in command. He reports to her of their victory over the Hovian picket, including the capture of two battle cutters. They had not encountered Nau Fein during the expedition. She excuses herself to the chambers she selected for herself, when Karyssa's wraith-squire approaches her with a request for help from its master. With a sigh, she leaves the keep towards the mill.

Jauchec awoke in a back alley not far from the town well to the sound of avatars coming into town. He had a hangover, but could dimly remember the bounty on the idol from the previous night. Consulting his scrying stones, he divined that the largest concentration of water was near the mill, he was aware of the idol's preferance for being near the substance, and headed towards it.

As Ronia was halfway across theupper gantry, below the mill, she heard the sounds of heavy armour flying towards her from behind. Turning she saw that it was Jauchec, she dived into what cover she had and attempted to quiet him. As quietly as they could they approached the end of the gantry, all the while watching the movement of the halflings below. The two of them meet with Karyssa and Bron, and while talking, a halfling spots the mechanic. As their discussion finishes, they notice the halflings have vacated the floor below them. They investigate below, finding the doors blocked with water barriers, and the rows of water silos empty.

Ronia is sends her squire for some army support and is the first to attempt to walk through the water and fails, Bron makes the attempt and succeedes, Karyssa steps through as well. Ronia and Jauchec, neither of whom can pass, attempt to curse the water with combined prayers. The water explodes tpwards them, knocking Ronia unconcious. While she is out, visions of an elven woman speaks to her of taking a gift away for turning from her light. The others try to help however they can, but Ronia's pulse slowly comes to a stop. She rises by the will of Annubus, without breath or pulse.

Beyond the water barrier there lie three double doors made of silver and gold, they are adroned with the ankh, or symbol of life. They choose the centre (with the aid of Karyssa's Worked stone) and begin to push upon them. Their combined strength breaks the silver holding bars allowing them access. Within the chamber is a collection of gold items, mostly rods and bars, illuminated by a gem, mounted upon the ceiling, that glows like daylight. The idol they seek is amid the horde, Jauchec takes the idol from the pile.

As they leave karyssa takes some of the gold, while Bron stays behind. "I will meet you topside," he says as he takes his shirt off to carry gold. Using a teleportation device (a shimmer) he manages to get two loads of gold to his avatar and the sunstone, by the time the rest of them get outside the mill. From there, they go to the keep. Ronia escorts Jauchec to the Night's Wrath, leaving the idol aboard for safe keeping. Moored to the zeppelin are the two captured battle cutters.

As the garrison forces arrive, they begin to look for the House Alaroth.

Transcendence (Blog 3)

Valis was awakened by the smell of Dyscathi's tea brewing on a small fire. Dyscathi leads the techpriest out of the temple, and to a laboratory. Already present are Dj Tech and Alias, who are already on the task of invention. They have been requested to modify Dahl technology to make devices to block scrying abilities, and they succeed by the next day. One is given to Valis for himself, and three are given to him to give to his companions. His transport, upon first look, appears to be a dragonfly, but upon closer inspection is a type of helicopter. Sitting in the pilot seat is the outcast pixie, Craxxx. Craxxx, in his fashion, then proceeds to collect scrapes and dents on their way out of the city.

Above the jungle, Cyline and Devo fly towards a mountain range followed from the shadows by a dragon. A storm builds ahead of them, so they adjust altitude to stay above it. The view treats them to a dangerous display of plasma fire dancing below them. The two of them spot the flyer ahead of them, Cyline attempting to contact the pilot with her mind. Craxxx promptly dives into the storm.

Upon the ground, they speak of the mission Dyscathi has given them which is to compare the Terran keystone with what might be the corresponding stone on Dahl. Valis gives each of them an "eye of closing", which he had worked upon in the city. They depart, and not long after Craxxx mangles the helicopter. Luckily, the machine could only hold a single pilot, and no one was hurt (bad).

Tiring of flight, they walk through the jungle, stopping fist due to a herd of insectiod beasts as tall as a man. The thousand of them shake the ground as they run from the predators who soon come into sight. They are called 'grinders' by those who know of them, and run in large packs. Each grinder has one set of legs, a set of clawed arms, and between them appendages which vent bioplasma in tight bursts. The party hides waiting until the herd and its antagonists pass by, but one grinder spots Valis. It begins to attack, digging and blasting armor, which they return in kind. By the time the herd had passed, the grinder lay dead.

Their armor had taken a beating, so they stopped for repairs using the carapace of the vanquished. The techpriest identified several metallic compounds in the creature's shell alone. They decide to rest the night, before which Devo attempts a healing spell to increase the benefits of sleep. Upon awakening mid-day, they realise they have no divine or mystical power, due to Devo's miscast. They travel for four hours, then rest again, travelling for another four hours until they begin looking for another place to rest. They come upon a square clearing in the jungle and make camp. Cyline, low on vitality, seduces Devo (quite easily) to sleep with her. After her first feeding he falls asleep, then in annoyance, does the same.

Awake, Valis spots a watcher across the clearing. Pointing it out, the others don't seem to mind, as long as he does nothing, so Craxxx makes breakfast. They eat their bacon as he drinks from his steaming mug. Cyline makes the attempt to contact him with telepathy, gift is his only reply, and he is gone. She then brings the "gift" to the camp with her telekinesis, Devo grabs them from the air. Cyline sees that they are Cypress' bracers which had been on his corpse. As she approaches, a trap door opens below Devo. Far below the party a great machine begins to cycle up.

Valis communes with the machine, asking it to open the door, but the machine spirit with becomes curious of him and he falls unconscious. Cyline blasts the trap door open, letting Devo out. They look to Valis' body to notice he too has fallen into a trap door. Cyline immediately blasts that door too.